Libguestfs - Mar 2016 - Re: [virt-tools-list] [libvirt] Usability Enhancement: Import/Export VMs GUI

On 2016-03-14 11:00, Martin Kletzander wrote:
> On Fri, Mar 11, 2016 at 10:32:15PM +0000, bancfc@openmailbox.org wrote:
> 
> Cool, now I'm wondering whether we also mention distros that are based
> on leveraging libvirt on our apps page [1]
> 
>> The initial import process with virsh commands puts off many newbies 
>> who
>> lack the technical skills to get up and running. This is the single 
>> most
>> coveted feature that comes up. It would be great if you guys can make 
>> it
>> happen at GSoC :)
>> 
> 
> Since virt-v2v can already quickly do that, I'm not sure the idea is 
> big
> enough that it would be enough for such project.  It would be basically
> a file chooser, button and running 'virt-v2v' with proper
parameters if
> I'm not mistaken.
> 
> Martin
> 
> [1] https://libvirt.org/apps.html

I've been reading up on virt-v2v as a potential one line command 
solution for guest import but it seems this specific usecase is not what 
it was made for and this feature was ripped out:

https://rwmj.wordpress.com/2015/09/18/importing-kvm-guests-to-ovirt-or-rhev/#content

On Thu, Mar 24, 2016 at 02:37:56PM +0100, bancfc@openmailbox.org
wrote:
>On 2016-03-14 11:00, Martin Kletzander wrote:
>> On Fri, Mar 11, 2016 at 10:32:15PM +0000, bancfc@openmailbox.org wrote:
>>
>> Cool, now I'm wondering whether we also mention distros that are
based
>> on leveraging libvirt on our apps page [1]
>>
>>> The initial import process with virsh commands puts off many
newbies
>>> who
>>> lack the technical skills to get up and running. This is the single
>>> most
>>> coveted feature that comes up. It would be great if you guys can
make
>>> it
>>> happen at GSoC :)
>>>
>>
>> Since virt-v2v can already quickly do that, I'm not sure the idea
is
>> big
>> enough that it would be enough for such project.  It would be basically
>> a file chooser, button and running 'virt-v2v' with proper
parameters if
>> I'm not mistaken.
>>
>> Martin
>>
>> [1] https://libvirt.org/apps.html
>
>
>I've been reading up on virt-v2v as a potential one line command
>solution for guest import but it seems this specific usecase is not what
>it was made for and this feature was ripped out:
>
>https://rwmj.wordpress.com/2015/09/18/importing-kvm-guests-to-ovirt-or-rhev/#content
We're both talking about different things then.  virt-v2v is supposed to
be able to import OVA image, that is extract all the stuff from it and
feed it to libvirt.  Although I was only told that, I have no hands on
experience with that.

Totally different thing is importing only disk images.  virt-install and
virt-manager can already do that and that's not the case for virt-v2v.

On Thu, Mar 24, 2016 at 03:23:07PM +0100, Martin Kletzander
wrote:
> We're both talking about different things then.  virt-v2v is supposed
to
> be able to import OVA image, that is extract all the stuff from it and
> feed it to libvirt.  Although I was only told that, I have no hands on
> experience with that.
The command:

  $ virt-v2v -i ova some.ova

will import `some.ova' into your current libvirt instance.

However, virt-v2v is really limited to a subset of source hypervisors
and guests.  If you're not on this list:

  http://libguestfs.org/virt-v2v.1.html#support-matrix

you're not getting in!

If your guest already runs on KVM (for example, it came from KVM
originally, and was just packaged up as an OVA by some deluded person
who thinks that OVA is a standard), you shouldn't be using virt-v2v at all.
> Totally different thing is importing only disk images.  virt-install and
> virt-manager can already do that and that's not the case for virt-v2v.
Right, virt-install --import is the way to go (or the equivalent
graphical commands in virt-manager).

Note that an OVA file is just a uncompressed tarball.  You can
extract the disk images from it by doing:

  $ tar xvvf some.ova

(That is, except for those OVAs which are not tarballs.  Some of them
are ZIP files.  Some of them are directories.  It's such a wonderful
standard!)

Rich.

-- 
Richard Jones, Virtualization Group, Red Hat http://people.redhat.com/~rjones
Read my programming and virtualization blog: http://rwmj.wordpress.com
virt-p2v converts physical machines to virtual machines.  Boot with a
live CD or over the network (PXE) and turn machines into KVM guests.
http://libguestfs.org/virt-v2v